Volume One, Chapter 11: Comrade Yu, What a Coincidence!

On the old street, lined on both sides with various shops steeped in history, Yu Nian’an carried a vegetable basket, walking straight along the street. It wasn’t until she passed a block of old tenement buildings that she finally saw the sign for the food factory that Aunt Chunxing had mentioned.

Looking through the main gate, the factory covered quite a large area, suggesting it was a sizable operation.

At the security booth by the entrance, there was only an elderly man inside, sipping slowly from an enamel cup.

Yu Nian’an reached out and knocked on the metal door. “Sir, hello, I’ve come to deliver something!”

“Ah? Deliver something? For whom?”

The old man looked up and saw Yu Nian’an was unfamiliar to him, so he asked. This caught her off guard; wasn’t she just supposed to leave it at the door?

Aunt Chunxing hadn’t told her the son’s name, but presumably, his surname was Yu.

Yu Nian’an quickly explained, “I’m delivering vegetables for the child of an aunt from the same village. I honestly forgot the exact name, but I know his surname is Yu.”

She then handed over the basket.

The old man took it and glanced inside. The basket looked familiar. When he looked back at Yu Nian’an, the suspicion in his eyes lessened. “Oh, so you’re from Yu Weimin’s family. Leave it here.”

As they were speaking, someone walked out of the factory toward the security booth.

“Grandpa Xu, hasn’t my mother come today?”

Yu Nian’an glanced at the newcomer, his face somewhat familiar. She was trying to recall where she had seen him before when the security guard chuckled, “Isn’t this a coincidence? Weimin, your mother didn’t come today; this young lady delivered the vegetables for her.”

“She didn’t come?”

Yu Weimin looked surprised.

Yu Nian’an realized this must be Aunt Chunxing’s son. No wonder he looked familiar—the mother and son bore a strong resemblance.

“You…”

“Aunt Chunxing…”

They spoke simultaneously.

Yu Weimin stopped them immediately upon hearing his mother’s name, signaling for her to continue.

“Aunt Chunxing had something to attend to today and couldn’t come, so she asked me to bring the vegetables to you.”

Yu Nian’an spoke openly, and Yu Weimin had no reason to doubt her. After thanking her, he took the vegetable basket and motioned for her to wait a moment.

He said he had something else to bring back with her and then turned to enter the tenement block ahead.

It seemed to be the family housing for the factory workers. Yu Nian’an only glanced briefly but felt a bit suffocated. Ten families on each floor, with shared toilets and bathrooms—it was likely that even a sneeze at home would be heard by the neighbors.

In comparison, her own small courtyard was much better.

Yu Weimin moved quickly and soon returned, the vegetable basket now seemingly filled with more items.

“Little sister, I’ll trouble you again to bring these to my parents. Please also tell them that I’ll come home for vacation at the end of the month.”

As Yu Nian’an took the basket, Yu Weimin pulled a small oil-paper package from his jacket pocket. “This is for you. Thanks for your hard work today.”

Yu Nian’an took it and, unable to tell what it was through the paper, opened it with one hand. Inside were palm-sized round biscuits.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a new product our factory recently developed. It hasn’t sold well, so we’re just giving it out to employees as a perk. Don’t worry, it’s not bad; just not very presentable.”

Yu Weimin scratched his head awkwardly.

Yu Nian’an smiled politely, “Not at all. Such a precious item—I’m a bit embarrassed to accept it.”

“No matter how precious, it’s meant to be eaten. Just take it. There aren’t many pieces, and I’m a big man; I don’t like those kinds of things.”

Seeing his sincerity, Yu Nian’an stopped refusing and slipped the package into her pocket. She still had errands to run and prepared to leave.

Yu Weimin walked her part of the way.

Along the way, she suddenly recalled his comment about poor sales. Biscuits were in high demand these days, so how could they not sell?

Looking around and seeing few people nearby, she lowered her voice to ask.

At her question, a look of helplessness spread across Yu Weimin’s face. “Those biscuits are made with high-quality ingredients, so the cost is high, and the price has been raised accordingly. There aren’t many families in this county who can afford them.”

“Why not ship them to the city then?”

“Sigh, the cost of fuel and tolls for the truck going back and forth, plus the procedures and finding sales channels in the city, all add up to a hefty expense. Besides, the biscuits are very crumbly, so they lose their appeal after being jostled on the road. Our manager thought it best not to bother. We didn’t make many anyway; we just distributed them to everyone. We won’t produce this anymore.”

That explained it. Yu Nian’an nodded.

By now, they had walked quite a distance. Yu Weimin had other matters to attend to at the factory, so he didn’t accompany her further. After bidding farewell, he turned back.

Yu Nian’an slung the vegetable basket over her arm and took out the oil-paper package, biting into one of the biscuits.

It was a bit dry but tasted quite good—like an early version of calcium milk biscuits.

Before entering this story, she had a passion for experimenting with food and naturally knew what ingredients were used.

Milk, flour, eggs, sugar—all were costly in this time. No wonder they didn’t sell well: if priced too low, the profit was minimal; if too high, ordinary families wouldn’t spend money on them.

Wrapping up the remaining biscuits, a sudden inspiration struck Yu Nian’an’s mind. She had a new idea but needed to put it into practice.

So she set off toward the county supply and marketing cooperative.

By then, many people had left, and it wasn’t too crowded. Yu Nian’an wandered around but soon realized that although she had money, she had forgotten a crucial item—a ration ticket.

She had miscalculated, hoping to buy everything her family needed on this trip.

She wandered among the goods for a long time but found few items she could buy. Instead, she attracted the sales clerk's attention, who seemed to eye her suspiciously, as if thinking she was a thief.

Yu Nian’an had no choice but to leave and pondered at the door if there was another way to purchase these goods.

Just then, a familiar voice sounded nearby.

“Comrade Yu, what a coincidence.”

It was Lin Zhi, accompanied by Ye Xiao and Gu Shen.

Yu Nian’an politely nodded to acknowledge them.

Lin Zhi came over, glanced at her basket with curiosity, and asked, “Have you finished buying everything?”

“Not even started yet…” Yu Nian’an replied with a complicated expression.

“Ah?”

Seeing her puzzled look, Yu Nian’an thought for a moment and explained that she had forgotten to bring ration tickets.

Lin Zhi looked a bit troubled. She had only brought a few tickets this time and had just used them. However, a few days prior, she had collected grain at the commune and still had one grain ticket left.

She was about to offer it to Yu Nian’an when Gu Shen spoke first.

“What do you need to buy?”

This was the first time Yu Nian’an heard Gu Shen speak seriously since she had thanked him, so she glanced at him in surprise and, without thinking, listed the items she planned to buy: “Oil, salt—and if possible, some flour.”